Dinesh Karthik highlighted the scrutiny faced by Team India’s top-order batsman, Shubman Gill, due to a series of subpar performances in Test cricket. Karthik expressed his opinion that the young and talented player appeared hesitant in his approach while batting on the first day of the current Test against England in Hyderabad.
Indicating the possibility of Gill losing his spot in the national team if his unsatisfactory performances persist, Karthik conveyed to Cricbuzz:
“You can see pressure has gone to Shubman Gill. He knows if he fails a couple of times, his career, for the moment, could be on the line. So, you could see that reluctance.”
Gill struggled to leave an impact in India’s two-match Test series against South Africa last year, accumulating only 74 runs in four innings. In the initial Test against England, he had a modest beginning, concluding the day unbeaten on 14 from 43 deliveries as India reached 119/1 at stumps.
“A huge learning curve for Ben Stokes” – Dinesh Karthik take on the all-rounder’s captaincy
Dinesh Karthik added that Ben Stokes cannot replicate his success against India by adopting the same approach he employed in the Test series against Pakistan.
The 38-year-old emphasized that Stokes and his team would need to adapt their game in India due to the distinct nature of pitches and the quality of batting, which differs from the conditions in Pakistan.
Discussing Stokes’ role as captain, the Indian wicketkeeper remarked:
“After (Tom Hartley’s) three overs, I think 99 percent of the captains would have taken him off. I also think it is a huge learning curve for Ben Stokes as well.”
“He is playing and captaining a little bit like how he captained (against) the Pakistan team. Two things are different than the Pakistan team: the calibre of batting and the kind of pitches that they played on.”
“They played on flat pitches where they could score 500 at a quick pace and put Pakistan, who just played orthodox cricket and got that score in a much longer time. So, his way of setting fields was a lot more attacking, which is understandable because he had 500 runs on the board,” Karthik concluded.”
Stokes displayed batting brilliance on the first day of the Hyderabad Test, achieving 70 runs from 88 deliveries. However, the rest of the batters couldn’t create a substantial impact, resulting in their dismissal for a total of 246 runs.
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